Schengen Visa Required Documents
Visiting a free travel area is every peripatetic’s dream. Nothing could be cooler than to be in a zone where you could move freely, without any restriction (even without your passport). When we talk of such territory, Schengen area tops the list. Every year, thousands of tourists and businessmen apply for Schengen visa after researching Schengen visa requirements. To get the visa, you have to fulfill Schengen visa requirements. Before moving on to them, let’s discuss a bit about Schengen.
What is Schengen zone?
Schengen stands for the passport-free zone in EU. It consists of about 26 European countries that have jointly abolished their internal borders and agreed on the common entry and exit points. Travelers who travel through these participating countries, do not have to face any border controlling system.
What’s Special about Schengen Visa?
One of the most common European visa, it authorizes the travelers to enter and travel freely through the Schengen region. When it comes to exit, traveler can leave this zone from any Schengen country of their choice.
Documents to Submit With A Schengen Visa Application
Those of you who never have been to a Schengen country must have lesser knowledge of Schengen visa requirement. Your travel itinerary to Schengen region is not just about a Schengen visa approval, every non-EU resident is legally required to submit a few basic documents. Here we are going to round them up, so that you can get your flight reservation and infiltrate there smoothly.
1. Visa Application Form
Download Schengen visa application that contains all the essential (yet brief) info of the Schengen visa applicant. Make sure that you fill each and every column, along with your sign.
- Two Identical Photographs
Your itinerary for visa is incomplete without two recently clicked photographs of yours. Photographs must not be older than past three to six months. Their size should not be more than 35x45mm.
- Valid and Authentic Passport
For getting your Schengen visa, you have to submit your passport that should have been issued within the past ten years. Secondly, make sure that it is not going to expire any time soon. It must remain valid, at least for three coming months after your exit from Schengen.
- Proof of your Travel Itinerary or Flight Reservation Certificate
Before you enter the Schengen area, you must submit all your traveling details like flight itinerary for visa application usually referred as flight reservation certificate which is booking a seat in flight before visa approval. Along with hotel confirmation or hotel booking or hotel reservation. Even your traveling dates and flight numbers should be specified.
- Documentary proof of your Financial Stability
Are you stable enough to bear your expenses while traveling in Schengen? That is what they ask you. So the next document you are required to submit is the evidence of your financial means. For that purpose, you can submit the latest bank statement of your bank account. It must not be older than the past 3 months. The bank statement must prove that you own enough money to spend in Schengen.
What if you don’t have a financially strong bank statement? Will you get your visa rejected? No! You have got the second option too. Get the sponsorship letter of your financial sponsor (if any). If there is someone who is willing to sponsor your whole Schengen trip, he or she must certify it through a sponsorship letter along with the sponsor’s recent bank statement (not older than 3 months).
The third and the last proof can be a letter of sponsorship along with your own bank statement.
Don’t forget to put forward the document proof of your travel health insurance verified for the Schengen countries. Your visa travel insurance must be around 30,000 minimum to deal with any medical emergency such as accidents, illness and even death. In case of death, your health insurance for Schengen visa is used for the repatriation of the dead body, back to its country.
As a traveler, you are supposed to submit the details about your stay and accommodation in Schengen region. This could be a hostel or hotel reservation or hotel booking for visa or hotel confirmation or any kind of rental agreement in Schengen. Thirdly, you can submit an invitation letter by someone who is willing to accommodate you in his or her house during the trip.
- Letter of Invitation
As a Schengen tourist, you are supposed to submit a letter of invitation to answer the basic questions like who you are, why you want to visit a Schengen country and how long are you going to stay. The invitation letter must state the purpose of your trip. If you are going for tourism purpose, the host must mention that. If it is for business purpose, it should be stated clearly by the respective host. A letter of invitation in a way gets you cleared before the concerning authorities in Schengen.
- Evidence of Paid Schengen Visa Fee
You are supposed to provide the proof of your non-refundable visa fee payment. For adults, they charge about 60€ and for kids from 6 to 12 years, you are required to pay about 35€ (child under 6 can travel free).
- No Objection Certificate (NOC)
Absence of No Objection Certificate can easily get your visa rejected, especially when you belong to some stigmatized nation or a third world country. Secondly, you also need a ‘no objection letter’ for a short trip to Schengen. NOC is the assurance by some reliable source (most probably your educational system or by your employer), back in your homeland. It is a kind of guarantee to your visa officer that you will be coming back to your country, the sooner the exit date gets closer. The purpose of this particular document is to make sure that the traveler will not be burdening the host country in any way.
- Birth Certificate for Minor
Being parents of a minor, when you apply for a Schengen visa, you also have to submit the birth certificate of your minor.
Where to Apply for Schengen Visa?
One of the most common reason of getting your Schengen visa rejected is applying at the wrong embassy/consulate. So, for a successful application, you must have the knowledge about the right (in your case) European consulate or embassy. You need to know different visa types like visitor visa, Business Visa, Work visa and apply based on your needs.
If you are going to visit only one Schengen country, submit your Schengen visa application at the visa center, consulate or embassy of your particular destination in Schengen zone.